Running on fumes
The Rockets report, brought to you by APG&E: Short-handed Rockets drop one to Pistons 115-107
Dec 15, 2019, 12:14 am
If there's ever a night for a potential title contender to lose a game to a sub-.500 team, this would be it. The Houston Rockets went into the Toyota Center tonight off of three games in four nights completely exhausted and without Russell Westbrook (rest) and Eric Gordon (knee scope). You never want to excuse a loss like this for a contender, but it's kind of hard to hold this one against the Rockets, when Mike D'Antoni himself admitted there was an element of exhaustion for the team tonight.
Mike D'Antoni says exhaustion was "definitely" part of the loss tonight: "Our 3s were short. James [Harden] got be… https://t.co/g4AvfER88h— Salman Ali (@Salman Ali) 1576385584.0
Even James Harden, famous for never admitting when he's hurt, admitted there was an element of "schedule loss" to Houston's performance tonight.
"It is what it is," Harden said after the game. "We all know how difficult it is so we have to continue to fight through."
The Rockets shot 13 for 45 from three-point range with seemingly all of the misses coming short. They looked sluggish and a step slow on defense as a team and weren't always running back in transition.
Clint Capela: "It's the schedule. It's tough for everybody. When it's tough to get going offensively, we have to be… https://t.co/J15MR2FA2C— Salman Ali (@Salman Ali) 1576387052.0
When players like Christian Wood (11 points and 12 rebounds in only 21 minutes) and Derrick Rose (20 points and 12 assists) are out-efforting you, sometimes all that's left is tipping your cap to the opponent.
"Like I said, they played well," said D'Antoni. "We just - you get behind, then you try to get back in there and a couple of things go wrong. We just didn't have the mental energy to take control of the game and get it over with."
Star of the game: James Harden gave an admirable effort tonight, but it was apparent from the beginning of the game that his tank was empty. Harden logged 39 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds, and 1 steal on 14 of 33 shooting from the field, 1 of 4 shooting from three-point range, and 7 of 8 shooting from the free throw line. After posting consecutive 50-point games and carrying the team to their last two victories, it's hard to blame Harden for being as tired as he was.
Honorable mention: Chris Clemons took advantage of the opportunity that was given to him in stride. Clemons posted 17 points 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block on 6 of 12 shooting from the field and 5 of 11 shooting from three-point range. It's hard to imagine Clemons cracking the rotation when Westbrook and Gordon come back, but he's done a great job with the playing time that he's been given.
Chris Clemons: "For us young guys, [this game] is a great opportunity. Russ and those guys - those are big shoes to… https://t.co/g3U2F7Uhxz— Salman Ali (@Salman Ali) 1576385937.0
Key moment: James Harden scored 17 of his 39 points in the third quarter and 11 of his points came in the final 5 minutes. Harden helped the Rockets cut it to a 10-point game. Even though his effort ended up being fruitless, it was yet another example of the kind of responsibility Harden has to carry in this offense every night.
Up next: The Rockets play the San Antonio Spurs in Houston at 7:00 p.m. on Monday.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
C.J. Stroud threw for 345 yards and two touchdowns, capped by a 1-yard pass to Dare Ogunbowale with 18 seconds left, to give the Houston Texans a 24-20 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
Houston forced a three-and-out to get the ball back with less than three minutes to go.
Stroud then led a nine-play, 69-yard drive to give the Texans (3-1) their first points of the second half and survive a scare by the winless Jaguars (0-4).
The Texans bounced back from a 34-7 rout at Minnesota to get the victory despite fumbling a punt return early and committing 12 penalties to give them 35 combined in their past three games.
Nico Collins helped Houston to the win with 12 receptions for 151 yards and a TD for his third 100-yard game this season.
Trevor Lawrence threw for 169 yards and two touchdowns as his streak of consecutive starts without a win stretched to nine games.
The Jaguars fell to 0-4 for the first time since opening the 2021 season with five straight losses.
After getting blown out by the Bills on Monday, they had plenty of chances in this one. They led through much of the second half after a touchdown reception by Christian Kirk with about six minutes left in the third.
They had a chance to pad the lead after that when a 58-yard run by Tank Bigsby got them to the Houston 4. Two runs by Bigsby moved them to the 2 before an incomplete pass by Lawrence.
Jacksonville went for it, but Lawrence was stopped for no gain on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Ogunbowale grabbed a short pass and evaded three defenders for a 31-yard gain on third-and-18 on Houston’s next drive.
But the Texans couldn’t do anything after that. They had a run for no gain, a holding penalty on left tackle Laremy Tunsil and an incomplete pass before Stroud was sacked to force a punt.
Derek Stingley knocked down Lawrence’s pass to force a punt with about six minutes left.
The Texans couldn’t get anything going on their next drive that ended with a holding penalty on Tunsil followed by two incomplete passes.
Kirk put the Jaguars up 20-17 with an 8-yard TD grab with about six minutes left in the third quarter. Brian Thomas powered that drive with a 32-yard reception and a 13-yard run.
The Texans forced a punt on Jacksonville’s opening drive, but Steven Sims fumbled it, and it was recovered by Daniel Thomas at the 2. Lawrence connected with Brian Thomas Jr. on the next play to give the Jaguars an early lead.
Houston tied it when Stefon Diggs scored his first career rushing touchdown on a 6-yard run with about 7½ minutes left in the opening quarter.
The Jaguars were up 10-7 after a field goal before a 3-yard touchdown reception by Collins put Houston on top 14-10.
Jacksonville added a 52-yard field goal with about four minutes left in the second quarter to cut the lead to 14-13.
The Texans led 17-13 at halftime after a 30-yard field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn with 3 seconds left in the second quarter.
Be sure to watch the video above as the crew from Texans on Tap reacts live to the win!
Injuries
Jaguars: DE Josh Hines-Allen left the game in the fourth quarter to be evaluated for a concussion.
Texans: RBs Joe Mixon (ankle) and Dameon Pierce (hamstring) sat out with injuries. … Tank Dell missed the game with hand and rib injuries.
Up next
Jaguars: Host the Colts next Sunday.
Texans: Host the Bills next Sunday.